Wake panel backs pitch for housing off Glenwood

RALEIGH -- A Wake County committee unanimously recommended last week that the county help finance a project that would create housing for low-income workers in one of Raleigh's historic neighborhoods.

The Housing and Community Revitalization Committee's vote came after more than a dozen people spoke for and against the project, which has ignited a heated debate in Raleigh's Glenwood-Brooklyn neighborhood.

The proposal now heads to the Wake County Board of Commissioners, which is scheduled to take up the issue at its Sept. 15 meeting.

The commissioners will decide whether the county should contribute $566,500 to help Community Alternatives for Supportive Abodes buy the George's Mews Apartments complex at the southeast corner of Glenwood Avenue and Washington Street.

CASA, which provides affordable housing for people with special needs, wants to turn George's Mews' 26 one-bedroom units into a mix of rent-controlled apartments and housing for the disabled.

The $2.14 million project is to be funded by the city, Wake County and state agencies. Raleigh's City Council has already agreed to contribute $926,164.

Several speakers last week argued that CASA's project would slow their neighborhood's revitalization and reduce property values by clustering two CASA projects nearby. CASA already operates a Cleveland Street quadruplex a block from George's Mews.

"At that point it's not a housing program, it's a housing project," said George's Mews resident Monte Hobbs.

Others complained that the neighborhood did not find out about the project until the last minute. Some said that residents' concerns had not been adequately addressed.

"I believe CASA should have engaged with us sooner," said Ben Kuhn, a Raleigh attorney representing the Glenwood-Brooklyn Neighborhood Association.

No public hearing

CASA's project does not require the property to be rezoned, and so no public hearing was required.

Debra King, CASA's executive director, said her group must be careful to protect the privacy of its tenants, or it could violate federal fair housing laws.

In voting to recommended approval of the project, several committee members noted that CASA's project is in line with the county's affordable housing goals and that the group has done all that was required of it.

Those who spoke in favor of the CASA project were a mix of Glenwood-Brooklyn residents and advocates for affordable housing.

Pam Floyd, a social worker who owns a house in the neighborhood, objected to what she views as the negative stereotyping of low-income and disabled people.

"I welcome them into our community," Floyd said.

Donna Kregor was told about last week's meeting by a group she belongs to that focuses on finding housing options for people with disabilities.

Kregor, who has a 27-year-old son with autism, said there's a shortage of places in Raleigh where people like her son can live.

"This kind of development would be great," Kregor said. "He works. He pays taxes. He wants to be independent."